Hey r/netsecstudents!

Just finished my first "real" security project and wanted to share it with fellow students. Started this because I was struggling to understand what was actually happening in packet captures during my studies.

My Learning Challenge:
Taking security courses, I'd get .pcap files for assignments but spent forever trying to understand what Wireshark was showing me. The hex dumps and protocol details were overwhelming when I was just trying to learn the basics.

Project: NetNerve
Built an AI-powered tool that explains packet captures in plain English. Instead of staring at hex, you get readable analysis of network traffic.

What I learned building it:

• Network protocols (way deeper than textbooks taught)

• Python/Scapy for packet manipulation

• API integration (used LLaMA-3 for AI analysis)

• Web development (Next.js/FastAPI stack)

• Security considerations (privacy-first design)

How it helps with studies:

• Upload practice .pcap files

• Get explanations of what traffic is doing

• Learn to identify suspicious patterns

• Understand protocol behaviors

• Create better lab reports

Example output: Instead of seeing TCP flags and port numbers, you get "Detected port scanning activity from 192.168.1.100 targeting multiple services on the network, indicating potential reconnaissance."

For fellow students: This has been super helpful for CTF challenges and lab work. You can practice with pcap files and understand what's happening without getting lost in technical details first.

Try it: https://netnerve.vercel.app

Questions for the community:

• Would this be useful for your coursework?

• What other learning tools do you wish existed?

• Any packet analysis tips for students?

Still learning and improving it. Happy to share more technical details about the build process!